Overview A Canadian medical cannabis revolution
Established in 2017, GlassHouse Botanics is a privately owned and operated Licensed Producer of medicinal cannabis sitting on 13 acres of pristine land in the Ottawa Valley, an hour and half from Ottawa Canada. As described below, the GlassHouse facility is the greenhouse of the future with over 43,000 square feet of hybrid greenhouse and head-house. By early 2021 the facility will be EU-GMP certified to enable GlassHouse to provide it’s medicinal products to the European market.
The Past
The idea of GlassHouse originated from researching the benefits of cannabis and the potential of the cannabis plant a number of years ago. The more research, the greater the possibilities of substantial medicinal applications. Our research lead to the realization that so many people could benefit from the plant- from cancer patients to people with pain, stress and anxiety.
The main motivation for Jeff Black, our CEO, comes from his desire to make a difference in the lives of people suffering from a number of ailments and conditions. This passion came from the suffering he watched his young daughter, Lael, go through for 3 ½ years. Lael was 6 years old when she was diagnosed with stage four Rhabdomyosarcoma – a very rare childhood cancer. Forty weeks of chemotherapy was the only treatment available. The pain and suffering a 6-year-old must go through each day, week and month is something no child should ever have to endure, and no parent should ever have to helplessly standby and watch. The anti-nausea and pain medication prescribed did very little, if anything, to stop the daily suffering. When the chemo stopped working Lael went through various other drug trials which eventually also failed to stop or slow the cancer. In 2008, when she was just 10 years of age, receiving radiation and morphine to control the pain, she passed away. In those last months of her life she suffered severe pain as the cancer grew in different areas of her little body. No palliative treatments were ever very effective in reducing her pain except for morphine, which, due to the level required, really didn’t allow her to have much of a life at all. With more, targeted research and development, cannabis may become far more effective in reducing nausea in cancer patients or for pain reduction and management with far less harmful side effects than that of morphine or other addictive opioids that are commonly prescribed. Jeff’s hope is that Cannabis can some day reduce some of the suffering people like Lael endure every day.
Present
Since receiving our cultivation and processing license from Health Canada in July 2019 we have been extremely busy hiring and training outstanding team members, planting and cloning thousands of seeds and plants, defoliating, feeding and just watching our beautiful healthy plants grow! We have over 30,000 plants at various stages of their life cycle in our greenhouses and mother room while at the same time we are working hard to keep our facility spotlessly clean. Since December 2019 we have a cloning and harvesting event almost every week!
Future
Just like our greenhouses, our future looks very bright! With a solid team that is expanding daily, over 30,000 of lush, full, robust plants and a cloning and harvest every week, 2020 is already turning out to be an amazing year. We have already received an outdoor cultivation license from Health Canada for 11 acres of our property and anticipate obtaining EU-GMP certification by the winter in order to commence selling our medicinal products in the European market to pharmacies and their patients. We’re thrilled to continue to develop as a company and discover new products for our customers around the world as we drive to be a leader in the medicinal cannabis space. The future is limitless!
Present
Since receiving our cultivation and processing license from Health Canada in July 2019 we have been extremely busy hiring and training outstanding team members, planting and cloning thousands of seeds and plants, defoliating, feeding and just watching our beautiful healthy plants grow! We have over 30,000 plants at various stages of their life cycle in our greenhouses and mother room while at the same time we are working hard to keep our facility spotlessly clean. Since December 2019 we have a cloning and harvesting event almost every week!
Construction Phase 1 – Canada
Construction seems so long ago. We Broke ground in May 2018 and worked tirelessly through all the changes (as you can see below) until we finally received our Health Canada license in July 2019.
Our TeamWe’re just getting started
Our team is made up of a perfect blend of business, science and agricultural backgrounds. And like our plants, we’re growing. See our careers page for more information about job opportunities.
Jeff Black
Chief Executive OfficerJeff Black Chief Executive Officer
After 20 years in numerous leadership roles as a partner with Deloitte, one of the largest accounting firms in the world, Jeff is now focused on ensuring the absolute success of GlassHouse and the healing properties of cannabis. Jeff’s professionalism, client service expertise and strong leadership skills developed over years of providing quality service to Deloitte clients will serve Glasshouse and their customers well.
Karen Power
Chief Financial OfficerKaren Power Chief Financial Officer
Karen joined Glasshouse’s leadership team in January 2019 as Vice President of Finance & Tax. Karen is responsible for all internal and external financial reporting for both the Canadian and European operations. She ensures compliance with Canadian and International filing requirements while assisting Jeff with the development of global tax strategies.
Karen was previously Vice President of Tax at Modern Niagara, one of Canada’s largest institutional and commercial construction contractors. While her role started as a purely tax function, after the departure of Modern’s corporate controller, Karen took on the corporate controller role and became responsible for the consolidated accounting and financial functions. Her expanded role included the preparation of forecasts, annual preparation of the consolidated budgets, assisting in the preparation of quarterly tax projections and annual tax return preparation.
Prior to joining Modern Niagara, Karen was a Tax Partner in Deloitte’s National Capital Region. In her practice with Deloitte, Karen provided tax compliance and planning services for a wide range of clients. She assisted clients in corporate reorganization and restructurings including mergers, acquisitions, business disposition including specific shareholder planning. She provided shareholders and senior executives with compensation, and tax strategies to minimize personal and estate taxes.
Mariana Black
Chief Compliance Officer, QAPMariana Black Chief Compliance Officer, QAP
As QAP of Glasshouse Botanics, Mariana is responsible for the overall quality, safety and compliance of our products to all our markets. Mariana is in charge of implementing and maintaining our Quality Management System to meet Health Canada regulations and EU Good Manufacturing Practices guidelines.
In addition to performing QA duties, Mariana manages Glasshouse Botanics’ Occupational Health & Safety Program.
Before becoming Glasshouse QAP, Mariana was Safety Manager at BC Tree Fruits Cooperative where she managed the On-Farm Food Safety Program for over 400 tree and vine fruit growers and managed the food safety and OHS programs for 9 facilities, including a cidery and 4 packing houses. Prior to this position, Mariana had different roles with food manufacturing facilities needing to implement and certify their food safety and quality systems. She also worked as Food Safety Analyst for a provincial government helping companies implement food safety programs and training industry on internal auditing and food safety systems.
Andrew Desjardins
Chief Operating OfficerAndrew Desjardins Chief Operating Officer
As Chief Operating Officer Andrew is responsible for the day to day operations of both our indoor facility and outdoor cultivation. Andrew and his team work tirelessly to achieve our primary goal of creating a high quality product for all our customers.
Andrew’s experience in operational management has enabled our facility to remain progressive when streamlining operational efficiencies and developing strong standard practices.
Drawing from his previous experience as a Senior Manager of business operations at Apple Inc. allows him to utilize both people and technology when building new processes for our cultivation needs. In doing this, we are able to maintain a consistent output of production while focusing on the bottom line.
Tahir Ibrahim
Director of ProductionTahir Ibrahim Director of Production
As Director of Production, Tahir is responsible for managing production and overseeing the day to day operations of both our indoor and outdoor production teams. He ensures all operations are running efficiently and that plants are growing in ideal conditions. Tahir and his team work non-stop to accomplish our primary goal of creating the highest quality craft cannabis for our customers.
Tahir’s has a Masters degree in Ecology/Horticulture and over 10 years of agricultural based research experience. Coupled with his practical experience in the cannabis industry and grassroots start-ups, he is able to develop the best protocols and procedures in line with our mission. His professional background as Director of Cultivation at Sundial Growers has allowed him to understand the specific growing requirements for cannabis at every life stage which ensures we are meeting or exceeding the plants needs. Tahir is able to direct, teach and guide our team in the right direction to produce the highest quality and quantity, while leveraging technology to develop craft cannabis.
Our Greenhouse – The Differentiator
Our facility is something special. From the outside it looks like 3 large, new greenhouses with crystal clear walls and ceilings. But once you see what’s inside you begin to appreciate that it is so much more. They are greenhouses from the future!
They still have all the advantages of most top of the line greenhouses where the plants can bathe in the rich natural powers of the sun and grow the way plants were always meant to grow while protected from the harsh outside elements when it gets nasty outside. But then technology takes over to bring our greenhouses into the twenty first century and beyond. The lights, shades, temperature and humidity are all dynamically controlled by its environment. Any changes in the outside weather, such as the temperature rising or dropping a few degrees, humidity or the barometric pressure changing, the wind picking up or changing direction, cloud building up, rain pouring down or the sun coming out – will cause the environmental controls in the greenhouse to dynamically adjust to those changes in the outside conditions to ensure they have no effect on the perfectly balanced environment inside the greenhouse. This is the greenhouse of the future and it is here in our facility.
Europe
With over 742 million people in Europe where half of the European countries have legalized medical cannabis and the other half considering legalizing medicinal cannabis, the current and future demand for high quality medicinal cannabis is greater than any other country in the world. The barriers to entry in Europe are also high as all cannabis must be produced in an EU-GMP certified facility in order for it to enter the EU. This strict criteria reduces the sources of supply that are available for the consumer. GlassHouse is working towards EU-GMP certification so that it is able to supply the much needed medicinal cannabis to Europe by the fall of 2020.
